Chapter 126

This Hellish Place (3)

The Mythricon sword that Passing Dwarf had told me to give away with as much caution as possible.

Originally, I had planned to give it away only after someone provided proof that they had reached the entrance to the Forest of Four Seasons.

But then some middle-aged man verified his identity in a bizarre way.

Apparently, he was fairly famous, because several people recognized him.

He was the teacher of the Hero who was currently on the run after being branded a traitor.

The revelation that such a man had been assigned to the investigation team caused an uproar in the Gallery.

’The manager seemed to know him too.’

More than anything, I couldn’t stop thinking about how shocked the manager had seemed.

They were so stunned that they even stopped adding exclamation marks to the end of every sentence.

Not only that, but they also sent me a private request.

[DontAbandonTheHero: Um... Mr. Grylls! May I ask you for a favor?!]

[Wild Grylls: What kind of favor?]

[DontAbandonTheHero: The gift you said you’d give to someone who proves they’re part of the investigation team! Could you give it to Mr. Ludwig, who just made that post?! I can vouch for him!]

[Wild Grylls: Do you know him?]

[DontAbandonTheHero: Yes! I know him very well!]

[Wild Grylls: Well, if the manager is asking...]

[DontAbandonTheHero: Thank you! The next time you do something that deserves a ban, I’ll grant you immunity!]

And thus, a transaction that wasn’t quite a transaction took place.

I could simply make another sword, so it wasn’t as though I was losing anything.

More importantly, the investigation team needed to survive after entering the forest and reach my location.

One might ask why I didn’t give them an elixir as well, but that was a different matter.

The elixir was something Starlight Princess had painstakingly created.

I might have obtained it through a trade, but it still contained her goodwill.

If I casually gave that goodwill away to someone else, Starlight Princess might feel uncomfortable.

That was simply how people’s feelings worked.

’Since they’re an investigation team, they should have brought various medicines with them.’

They would surely have prepared excellent medicines, even if none were as effective as an elixir.

All that remained was to wait for them to arrive.

No one knew how long it would take.

This was a region where space shifted unpredictably.

Moreover, the land itself was comparable in size to a small country. If we were unlucky, we might never encounter one another.

’They might settle down somewhere suitable, just like I did.’

If they could use the Gallery, locating them would be dozens of times easier.

However, it was common knowledge that the Gallery could not be accessed from within the Forest of Four Seasons.

Eldorado was convinced that it could be used here, but there was no way to know for certain.

Perhaps I was simply special.

’Would they have entered by now?’

I checked for posts written by the middle-aged man who had introduced himself as Ludwig.

He had not posted anything since receiving the sword.

It almost looked as though he had taken the gift and run.

I wished he had at least posted proof when he entered the Forest of Four Seasons, but there was nothing of the sort.

Perhaps he really was just an old-fashioned middle-aged man who had accepted the gift and immediately entered the forest.

’If the Gallery worked inside, he would’ve written something... What a shame.’

It had been not five minutes, but an entire hour.

Yet no new post appeared.

The Gallery users also seemed curious about Ludwig’s whereabouts, but there was no obvious way to find out.

Still, there was one indirect method.

I could ask the manager.

The manager could see the real-time locations of not only fixed-nickname users but anonymous users as well.

It was a privilege and authority unique to the manager.

That should allow us to figure out his general location.

’I should ask.’

The manager seemed to know him, and the matter was important to me as well.

I immediately sent the manager a message, hoping they were still browsing the Gallery.

[Wild Grylls: Manager, do you happen to know where the fixed-nickname user LudwigVanerold is? Is he still outside the Forest of Four Seasons?]

[DontAbandonTheHero: He’s still in front of the entrance to the Forest of Four Seasons! I sent him a message, but he isn’t replying!]

[Wild Grylls: Do you think something happened?]

[DontAbandonTheHero: I don’t know either! I think we’ll have to wait and see!]

’Did something happen?’

That thought occurred to me after hearing the manager’s explanation.

The Gallery users had said that while they called it an investigation team, it was effectively a purge.

After all, anyone sent into the Forest of Four Seasons was highly likely to be officially declared "missing."

"Or maybe he’s too old-fashioned to know how to send messages?"

It wasn’t entirely impossible.

However, there was no way to be certain of that either.

I could begin forming a proper plan only after the investigation team entered the Forest of Four Seasons.

’No. What plan?’

Space changed however it pleased in this place.

What could I possibly rely on besides luck?

If they were lucky, they might land in the same forest as me.

If they were unlucky, they could appear on the opposite side.

According to the manager, my current location was near the center of the Forest of Four Seasons.

The chances of encountering them were abysmal, but I had no choice except to believe it would happen.

’For now, let’s make some charcoal.’

There was almost nothing I could do until they entered the Forest of Four Seasons.

I had my own work to do, so I planned to focus on it for the time being.

’Let’s see. The charcoal kiln...’

The campfires I had lit until now had produced only a tiny amount of charcoal.

It wasn’t even enough to fill a single small container.

I consumed large quantities of charcoal whenever I forged swords or made other tools.

One way or another, I needed to obtain charcoal in bulk.

I knew nothing about this sort of thing, but I knew someone who did.

[Starlight Princess: The most important part of making charcoal is cutting off the oxygen supply.]

[Wild Grylls: Cutting off the oxygen supply?]

[Starlight Princess: Yes. Charcoal is produced through incomplete combustion, and depriving the fire of oxygen creates the necessary conditions. Would you like me to explain it in detail?]

[Wild Grylls: No, it’s fine. Thank you very much, though.]

[Starlight Princess: No problem. Feel free to ask me whenever you have a question related to alchemy.]

That person was Starlight Princess, a genius in the field of alchemy.

She was also the fixed-nickname user who had previously taught me about smoking food.

One might ask why I hadn’t consulted Allfather instead, but his area of expertise seemed different, so I asked Starlight Princess.

Passing Dwarf specialized in metallurgy—in other words, metals—so I had not even considered asking him.

’I need to cut off the oxygen supply...’

Cutting off the oxygen supply would cause incomplete combustion, thereby producing charcoal.

As I slowly pondered her advice, my eyes landed on the oven.

More precisely, I noticed the clay plastered into the gaps in the oven.

It had hardened by now and served as an adhesive.

’That’s it!’

Inspiration struck.

I immediately began gathering wood.

There was a path the leader gorilla had previously created with a single punch.

Since the fallen trees lay across the ground and formed the path, gathering wood was easy.

’I’ll follow that path later.’

After gathering the wood, I arranged it upright as though building a campfire.

Now I needed to light it—

Except I didn’t.

I first had to cover it with clay to cut off the oxygen supply.

If I applied clay directly to the wood, it would neither adhere properly nor remain in place.

’I’ll make a rough frame with branches.’

So I wrapped branches around the pile, particularly those that still had dried leaves attached.

Once they were all in place, I slathered clay over everything until it took the form of a kiln.

But I was not finished yet.

The wood needed to burn fiercely at first, so I made several ventilation holes throughout the kiln.

I also made an opening at the very top.

That was where I planned to insert the flame.

Fwoosh!

Finally, I placed a burning branch into the opening at the top and checked whether the wood had caught fire.

The upper section naturally burned well, but the bottom was what mattered.

That was why I had made the ventilation holes.

Once I was certain the lower section was burning properly, I sealed every vent and cut off the oxygen supply.

"Cough! Cough! Ugh, that’s strong. Maybe I shouldn’t have checked."

I had opened one of the holes to see whether the wood was burning properly, only to inhale a lungful of smoke.

In any case, now that I had confirmed it was burning well, I could move on to something else.

’What’s the situation now?’

I accessed the Gallery and checked whether anything had changed.

However, Ludwig had not written any new posts. Instead, unverified rumors about the investigation team were circulating.

There had been internal strife within the investigation team. The gift Grylls had given Ludwig was so powerful that it had caused an incident.

All kinds of speculative posts were running rampant, but their credibility was virtually nonexistent.

’Why would they start fighting among themselves? Their chances of survival are already low enough.’

Please don’t fight.

Just enter peacefully and come meet me.

Well, honestly, there was no guarantee they would even be able to enter.

It would be better to treat it as nothing more than a faint hope.

After browsing the Gallery for a while, I closed it. Nothing in particular stood out.

’Wait. Even if they enter the forest, will they be able to reach me?’

Smoke occasionally rose high into the sky, but that would not be nearly enough.

Compasses did not work in this damned forest, and its terrain was difficult to comprehend, making it extremely easy to get lost.

I was fine because I had accumulated some experience and generally stuck to familiar routes, but newcomers could not possibly possess that kind of knowledge.

’I should at least make some signposts.’

I would place signposts around the forest so they could find my location.

It might seem a little ridiculous, but it was an effective method.

I immediately prepared my tools.

There were no signposts listed in the Auction House, so I had no choice but to make them myself.

Scrape! Scrape! Scrape!

There were trees everywhere nearby.

I fashioned a signpost from a suitably sized piece of dry wood.

I made a grooved board and a post separately, then fitted them together.

’It would be better to paint it white so it stands out, right?’

I bought paint from the Auction House.

Even that was expensive.

In the center of the arrow-shaped board, I drew a house.

A trapezoid atop a square, with a window drawn inside the square.

It was meant to indicate that someone lived there.

It looked presentable enough.

Its height reached somewhere between my chest and neck, so it should be easy to notice.

Title: Made a Signpost

Wild Grylls

I made a signpost just in case the investigation team passes nearby. I’m about to go set it up.

Members of the investigation team! If you see this, just follow the arrow! It points to where I am!

└ Heavenly Demon) You made it quite neatly. Between this and the sword, you appear to be exceptionally skilled with your hands.

└ Wild Grylls) Thank you, haha.

└ Aren’t you getting your hopes up too much? Kekekeke.

└ I thought this bastard was joking, but he’s actually serious. Kekekeke.

└ What are you going to do if no one ever enters the Forest of Four Seasons?

└ Wild Grylls) I’ll hug Wonmo and sob.

└ Wild Grylls) Really?

└ Of course that was a lie. Ke.

└ Wild Grylls) You bastard. Keke.

└ DontAbandonTheHero) If you really do meet him, please welcome him warmly! Mr. Ludwig is a genuinely kind person.

└ Wild Grylls) Won’t that only matter if he actually enters the forest? There still hasn’t been any news about him coming in.

└ DontAbandonTheHero) That’s true! Honestly, I hope he doesn’t enter!

└ Wild Grylls) You’re crushing my hopes.

└ DontAbandonTheHero) I’m sorry, but I think it’s better for your hopes to be crushed than for someone’s life to be sacrificed meaninglessly!

└ Wild Grylls) Damn it. TT Now I have nothing to say.

└ That’s sad, Grylls... But the manager is right.

└ You’re the strange one. Normally, anyone who enters the Forest of Four Seasons dies within a few days.

└ Wild Grylls) If someone is reasonably skilled, their chances of survival should be higher. My senior survived here too.

└ Your senior? Don’t tell me you mean that skeleton.

└ Have you finally acknowledged him as your senior? Keke.

└ That’s strangely adorable. Kekekeke.

└ What did Wonmo do to deserve that? Kekekekeke.

└ Wild Grylls) He’s my only means of emotional healing.

└ Are you that lonely? Want me to come visit you?

Even the manager had indirectly told me to abandon hope, but I refused to give up!

Of course, that did not mean I wanted Ludwig to risk his life just to enter the forest.

I was simply... preparing for the possibility that the investigation team would become "castaways."

’Are they still waiting outside the entrance?’

With that thought in mind, I made even more signposts.

I planned to install them along every route I had traveled thus far.

’I want to talk to another person too.’

After two weeks, loneliness was slowly beginning to creep in.

While Grylls was kindly making and installing signposts—

Bam!

"Aaaaaaargh!"

A holy knight went flying toward the entrance to the Forest of Four Seasons.

He flailed his arms as though desperately protesting that he did not want to enter.

The holy knight remained visible for only a brief moment.

The instant he passed through the "entrance" to the Forest of Four Seasons, he vanished without a trace.

"Whew..."

The holy knight who had kicked him in the back—Ludwig—exhaled heavily.

Then he slowly turned and faced the hostile watchdogs.

Swoosh—

Ludwig leveled the sword that appeared to contain a flowing emerald galaxy.

Then, radiating a dazzling aura, he spoke.

"Does anyone else wish to enter?"

Just as Grylls had hoped, Ludwig was kindly "procuring" survivors for him.